By: Miriam Edelman
Yet again, Congress interfered with local D.C. issues. It used The George Washington University’s (GW) Gaza protests to micromanage Washington, D.C. Congress combined its ongoing meddling in D.C. affairs with Gaza protests on college campuses around the United States. When will this fixation on our nation’s capital end?
Similar to other college campuses, GW’s campus was the location of Gaza protests. On April 25, 2024, protesters set up a pro-Palestinian encampment on the GW’s University Yard, which is on private university land on H Street N.W. between 20th St, NW and 21st St, NW. GW students, other nearby universities’ students, and others in the D.C. area demonstrated. Like others in the U.S., they wanted their universities to divest from companies that support Israel’s military activities in Gaza. Some also called for the end of Israel. Protesters at GW said they would not leave until they had their demands met.
GW tried to handle the protests. GW wrote in an online announcement on “Demonstration on GW’s Foggy Bottom Campus” on April 25, 2024:
“University Yard was previously reserved and is not available for demonstrations. GW Law final exams are taking place at adjacent buildings.
Demonstrators must move with their tents to Anniversary Park at F Street between 21st and 22nd.
GW will prohibit all non-GW individuals from participating in any demonstration on university property.
GW does not permit overnight encampments on university property.
Students may demonstrate until 7 p.m. if they abide by the university's free expression guidelines, the Code of Student Conduct, and other applicable policies.
At 7 p.m., the students will be required to remove tents and disperse.”
GW continued to post updates on its website.
On April 25th, GW requested that D.C.’s police move a protest encampment on the University Yard and informed the GW community of this request in a letter:
Today, we requested the assistance of DC Metropolitan Police to relocate an unauthorized protest encampment on the University Yard. The encampment, unlike some demonstrations in the past, is an unauthorized use of university space at this location and violated several university policies. The decision to request MPD assistance came after multiple instructions made by GWPD to relocate to an alternative demonstration site on campus went unheeded by encampment participants.
Later, GW continued to try to acquire assistance from D.C. police. GW’s President Ellen Granberg said that the GW protest was “not a peaceful protest.”
D.C.’s police decided against clearing out GW’s protests. Police officers came at around 3:00 a.m. on April 26th. However, senior people in the offices of the D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Metropolitan Police Department’s Chief Pamela Smith ordered the police to stand down. D.C. police were worried about the optics of going against a small number of peaceful protesters. They had flashbacks to when U.S. Park Police removed mainly peaceful demonstrators from Lafayette Square in June 2020. Police Executive Research Forum Chuck Wexler said it is rare for police to reject a university request to clear protesters and remarked, “If these are peaceful demonstrators and MPD says, ‘Look, we’ll stand by. We’re not leaving, we’re simply saying at this moment we don’t see a compelling need to come in,’ then that’s okay.” D.C. police kept a presence near GW.
Some GW students opposed police action. GW’s Student Government Association President Arielle Geismar expressed in a statement that GW not “use violence or actionable force by asking either [university police] or [D.C. police] to forcibly remove students.” Geismar mentioned U.S. students being injured when they were removed. Student organizer Reem Lababdi said,
We are very disciplined and organized. We’ve instructed all of our participants not to engage with agitators. Not to engage with police. We have a peaceful study. We have political education. We have religious services. There is absolutely no reason for MPD to get involved.
Congress could not unilaterally take over D.C.’s police or deploy D.C.’s National Guard to clear GW’s protests. Those activities require Presidential action. However, some Members of Congress wrote to the D.C. government about GW protests and D.C.’s police.
One of them was Senator Tom Cotton (R-AK), who wrote to Bowser about the GW protests on April 29, 2024. He wrote that the “mayor's office told police to stand down and said it would look bad publicly for police to disrupt a 'small number of peaceful protestors.’” He then wrote, “What looks bad publicly is D.C. allowing a band of antisemitic, mask- wearing fanatics who call for an "intifada revolution" to tum a university into a pro-Hamas encampment.” Then, he proceeded to attack D.C.’s crime, writing “I have no doubt that if protestors were illegally gathered in opposition to Washington, D.C.'s disastrous record on crime, you would have quickly ordered the police to intervene.” He continued, “Your actions are a good reminder of why Washington, D.C. must never become a state.” Actions of Cotton and others who interfere with D.C. is why D.C. statehood so crucial. He called on Bowser to reverse her decision.
On April 30, 2024, the Chairs of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee [James Comer (R-KY)] and the House Education & the Workforce Committee [Virginia Foxx (R-NC)] sent a letter to Bowser and D.C.’s police chief:
We are alarmed by reports that the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPD) rejected requests from officials at the George Washington University (GWU) to assist in removing the radical, antisemitic, and unlawful protestors who have encamped on the university’s campus and surrounding District of Columbia public land for several days. It is deeply disturbing that while GWU has attempted to take concrete measures to protect the safety of its Jewish student body from persecution and harassment, it is hindered by the MPD’s refusal to provide assistance clearing out the encampment, over fears of public criticism.
They attacked D.C., saying,
GWU has consistently attempted to act in good faith for the wellbeing of its student population but has faced obstruction from the MPD and the Office of the Mayor. Without assistance from the MPD, GWU is unable to clear the encampment and restore order because it lacks the manpower and jurisdiction to act on public land. The inaction of the MPD and the District of Columbia is out of sync with police departments and local governments nationwide which have responded to similar requests for help from universities to clear out unlawful encampments in states such as Missouri, Massachusetts, and others.
They asked Bowser and the D.C. Police Chief to answer the following questions by May 9th:
1. “Why has the Office of Mayor Bowser and MPD refused GWU’s calls for assistance in clearing out the encampment of unlawful protesters on and adjacent to the campus?
2. What conditions must be met before MPD will act to assist GWU in clearing out the encampment of unlawful protesters?
3. How is MPD’s refusal to assist GWU in clearing out the unlawful and antisemitic protest encampment in keeping with MPD’s own mission statement?”
On May 1, 2024, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer and committee members D.C. critic Byron Donalds (R-FL) (who is mentioned in multiple DCNOW blog pieces), Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) [who introduced the H.R. 7526 piece, which was featured in the “Second D.C.-Related Mark-Up in As Many Months for the U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Committee (March 7, 2024, Mark-Up) (Part Two – H.R. 7526)” blog piece of DCNOW], Eric Burlison (R-MO), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), and William Timmons (R-SC) visited GW’s campus. At GW, they met with GW leadership and toured the protest site, similar to some Members of Congress visiting Columbia University in late April 2024. Comer and others held a press conference at GW.
In at least an online statement, Comer said
The Oversight Committee is here today because, as you saw yesterday from Speaker Johnson, this is a priority for the majority of the House of Representatives. We are seeing these protests spring up all across the United States. We are hearing from Jewish students they don’t feel safe. We are hearing from university administrators that they don’t feel like they are equipped to handle these types of protests.
And
We have two roles on the Oversight Committee in these protests. First, we have legislative jurisdiction over the city of Washington, D.C. We’ve already passed legislation signed into law that rescinds D.C.’s soft-on-crime policies. We are going to have an emergency hearing Wednesday with the Mayor and Police Chief of Washington, D.C. We want to make sure MPD is working with campus police to ensure the safety of the students. Second, we want to follow the money trail to see if outside groups are paying for these activities.
When Comer spoke at GW, some people yelled Hands Off D.C., a popular rallying cry regarding D.C. autonomy. Some also held at least one large “Hands Off DC” sign when these Members of Congress were at GW.
Not surprisingly, Donalds was highly critical of Bowser in an online statement,:
What is happening here is wrong. Mayor Bowser has let down the students of George Washington. She has let down the city of Washington, D.C. Everybody believes in peaceful protests, but this is trespassing now. GW has asked for help to have the encampment removed because this is private property, and the Mayor is weak in the face of foolishness and she won’t do her job of enforcing the law in Washington, D.C. We are calling on the Mayor to step up and support the president and administration at George Washington. All students deserve to be protected but you cannot take over a university
for your own end. None of you would let it happen to your own house; you would call the police.”
If the faculty here, who many are involved in this right now — I had people proudly saying that they are faculty — and not wanting to remove a Palestinian sign from the George Washington statue. If they don’t want to do something to address this? Well, then kiss your federal funding goodbye
That night, Bowser addressed these protests at a press conference. Echoing some Democratic Representatives, she noted Foxx’s state (NC), saying “The members have universities in their own districts, especially the member from North Carolina. I was watching a lot of activity in North Carolina, it would seem that her energy would be best placed there.”
On May 1, 2024, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee announced that it will hold a full committee hearing on “Oversight of D.C.’s Response to Unlawful Activity and Antisemitism” on May 8, 2024. In the press release announcing that hearing, Committee Chair Comer (R-KY) said:
The House Oversight Committee is deeply concerned over reports indicating the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department rejected George Washington University’s request for help in removing the radical, antisemitic, and unlawful protestors occupying the campus and surrounding public lands. MPD’s refusal to assist GWU in their efforts to protect the Jewish student body is disturbing and unacceptable. To fulfill our responsibly to oversee the District of Columbia and its affairs, the Committee will hold a hearing next week and seek answers from local leaders on steps being taken to ensure this unlawful activity ends.
The invited witnesses were just Bowser and Smith. Hence, no GW official was invited to testify although having a GW official testify at a GW-related hearing would have made sense. Only D.C., not GW, officials as witness implies that that committee, which already held numerous D.C.-related hearings and mark-ups during just this Congress, wants to needlessly attack D.C. A top GW official witness could have helped Republicans because he/she could testify that GW asked D.C. for help.
If Congress were serious about the GW protests, it also would have treated those protests as it has handled other college protests in terms of Congressional hearings. Thus, instead of having a standalone hearing, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee would have had a joint hearing with the House Committee on Education & the Workforce and invited GW, not D.C., officials to testify. The House Committee on Education & the Workforce conducted the following full committee hearings about Gaza protests on college campuses between the Gaza attack on October 7, 2023, and May 8, 2024:
- "HOLDING CAMPUS LEADERS ACCOUNTABLE AND CONFRONTING ANTISEMITISM" on December 5, 2023 – Witnesses were the Presidents of Harvard University (Claudine Gay), the University of Pennsylvania (Liz Magill), and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sally Kornbluth) and an American University professor
- "COLUMBIA IN CRISIS: COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY'S RESPONSE TO ANTISEMITISM" on April 17, 2024 – Witnesses were Columbia University’s President Nemat “Minouche” Shafik and three other Columbia University-affiliated individuals
That committee also held the following hearings on Anti-Semitism on college campuses during this Congress:
- “CONFRONTING THE SCOURGE OF ANTISEMITISM ON CAMPUS” on November 14, 2023 – This hearing was of the committee’s Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workplace Development. Its witnesses were two organizational representatives, an “Independent Consultant on Antisemitism Prevention and Response,” and a Yale University student.
- “CALLING FOR ACCOUNTABILITY: STOPPING ANTISEMITIC COLLEGE CHAOS” on May 23, 2024 – This hearing was a full committee hearing. Its witnesses include Presidents of Northwestern University (Michael Schill) and Rutgers University (Jonathan Holloway); the Chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles (Gene Block); and an organizational representative.
On February 29, 2024, that committee held a Bipartisan Member Roundtable on “ANTISEMITISM AT POSTSECONDARY INSTITUTIONS” featuring participants from nine postsecondary institutions. Hence, it is surprising that the House Committee on Education & the Workforce was not at least cohosting the GW hearing. That committee expressed concern about GW protests, as shown by the April 30th letter of its chair and Comer.
It would not be unprecedented for the House Oversight and Accountability Committee to hold a joint D.C.-related hearing. On June 7, 2024, that committee and the House Administration Committee held a hearing entitled “American Confidence in Elections: The Path to Election Integrity in the District of Columbia.” That hearing was the subject of DCNOW’s blog post that is entitled “House Republicans Use “Oversight” Hearings to Inflict Insults on the District of Columbia.”
Mayor Bowser said she deferred to the expertise of D.C.’s police chief regarding GW protests. She also remarked, “We will not tolerate violence of any kind, and we will be supportive of universities or other private entities who need help.” She met with GW employees and said, “We are in constant communication with GW officials and have been throughout to be supportive, to hear their concerns and for them to understand how to work directly with the District government.”
D.C. Police Chief Smith defended D.C.’s action. She said that peaceful encampment would not be removed but said that there could be a shift if campus actions changed.
On May 7th the day before the GW hearing was scheduled to occur, D.C.’s Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) released a statement condemning this hearing and calling “for end to paternalistic, wasteful, hearings on local D.C. affairs.” She wrote:
While my colleagues across the aisle could be working to solve problems across the country or to advance the goals of their own constituents, they are instead choosing, yet again, to use valuable time scoring political points at the expense of nearly 700,000 people who live in D.C. who elected me to represent them in Congress. Ahead of the eighth anti-DC home rule hearing in the 118th Congress, I’m calling for an end to the unseemly, paternalistic, wasteful Republican fixation on D.C.
At 3 a.m. on May 8th fewer than 12 hours before the May 8th hearing was scheduled to begin, D.C. police took action against the GW protests. Coming in full riot gear, more than 500 police officers cleared GW’s encampment and arrested 33 people. After officers were attacked, police used pepper spray. Hours after the arrests, crews removed tents and cleaned chalk from a street.
Bowser and Smith said there was no link between this police action and that hearing. They said that the police acted due to safety concerns, not due to the May 8th hearing.
Between the D.C. police action and the scheduled hearing, Bowser and D.C. police officials held a press conference at D.C.’s Wilson Building, D.C.’s city hall. Bowser mentioned the D.C. police’s presence at GW. She made it clear that D.C.’s “responses to demonstrations is always rooted in public safety and constitutional responsibility.” She said that MPD’s chief and her team are public safety experts and have the “final word on how our resources are deployed.” D.C.’s police chief began by saying “the District of Columbia and Metropolitan Police Department support individuals peacefully exercising their first amendment rights, but as the chief of police, I need to be and am always guided by public safety.” She discussed D.C.’s police helping GW. She stated that the GW protests were mainly peaceful until the preceding Thursday and that during the weekend, the situation got worse. Police learned of objects that could be used as weapons. On May 6th, Smith decided that D.C. must change its position. Early the next day, D.C.’s police warned people six times to leave the protest, and many left. She said that people who did not leave were arrested. Bowser said she spoke to Comer and thought that the scheduled hearing would not happen. Another city leader talked about the possibility of protestors at other schools, including Columbia University, coming to GW.
There was mixed reaction to D.C.’s police’s arrests. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) remarked, “It should not require threatening to haul D.C.’s mayor before Congress to keep Jewish students at George Washington University safe.” Hence, he disagreed with D.C. government officials, who said there was not a link between D.C.’s police actions and the May 8th hearing. Some pro-Palestinian groups accused Bowser of falling for pressure from Republicans. Others criticized GW’s President Granberg and the D.C. police. D.C. Council Member Robert C. White Jr. (D-At Large) referred to the police activity as a “stain on the city and democracy.”
After this D.C. police action, the May 8th hearing was canceled. Comer made the following statement:
Following the Metropolitan Police Department finally clearing out the unlawful encampment on GW’s campus, I am very pleased to announce that the hearing with Mayor Bowser has been canceled. I had a good conversation with Mayor Bowser. I thanked her for finally clearing the trespassers off the GW Campus. It was unfortunate the situation at GW forced the Oversight Committee to act; however it was apparent that the DC police force was not going to do their job. Therefore, after meeting with GW leadership and touring the encampment, we decided to hold a public hearing to get answers as to why the Mayor would not uphold the law. I am pleased that the potential Oversight hearing led to swift action by Mayor Bowser and MPD Chief Smith. We will continue to hold D.C. officials accountable to ensure our nation’s capital is safe for all.”
It seemed like the Committee on Oversight and Accountability thought that its hearing would be pointless since D.C. ultimately did what the Committee wanted.
Even after D.C.’s police made those arrests, Gaza-related protests continued to occur at GW. A day after the arrests, protestors put up tents, and 300 demonstrators blocked the street of GW’s President’s residence. More than 100 graduates protested the Gaza war by walking out of GW’s commencement during GW’s President’s speech.
Although another D.C.-related hearing, which is basically political theater, was averted, Congress still interfered with local D.C. issues. Congress must end meddling with the District of Columbia. It has more important issues to handle.
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